Dries Mertens wants to score goals to win World Cup with Belgium - and help his friends with free TVs

Sport360 staff 11:43 02/07/2018
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  • TV star: Dries Mertens.

    Scoring the goals that help Belgium lift a first-ever World Cup would be a dream for Dries Mertens, but the Belgium forward admits there’s another reason why he wants to help his country find the back of the net – to help his friends get free televisions.

    Electronics company Krefel has offered Belgian customers a full refund on a newly bought TV if Roberto Martinez‘s side score 16 goals in Russia.

    The Red Devils are halfway there too, as they were top scorers in the group stage with nine, one of which was scored by Napoli flyer Mertens.

    “My friends bought a television, so I am thinking about that,” he said.

    “With the qualities of Romelu [Lukaku] and Eden [Hazard], we can create a great deal of danger.

    “We are doing really well. We like to score a lot of goals.”

    Belgium face Japan in the last 16 in Rostov on Monday after a 1-0 win over England meant they finished top of Group G with three successive victories.

    Martinez’s men scraped through at this stage of the 2014 World Cup against the United States, winning 2-1 after extra time before losing the quarter-final 1-0 to Argentina.

    Mertens was also part of the squad that were dumped out of Euro 2016 two summers ago after they lost 3-1 to Wales in the quarter-finals, having taken the lead through Radja Nainggolan’s stunning long-range effort.

    “Yes, we are favourites but watch our last-16 game against the USA in 2014,” said Mertens.

    “They had a chance in the last minute which could have eliminated us. And I am not going to talk about the elimination to Wales at Euro 2016.

    “But the atmosphere in the team is fantastic and there is the belief that we can win all our matches.”

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